Books: reading - reviewing - recommending

Poppy Lung - Alex Caird

16th January 2015

Poppy Lung is a young girl whisked away to a strange world by a crow, and thereafter she learns about the various ancient elements (air, earth, water, fire) and the animals who relate to them. In learning this, she may learn something about herself. The main goal is for Poppy to find a way home, while accompanied by the Crow also searching for a Prince who may or may not exist. During this time, she and the Crow are pursued by an ominous wind who might be interested in the stone lodged and tangled within Poppy's hair.

Poppy Lung is promoted by the author as "a homage to Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’", however this novel unfortunately has very little of the undeniable charm of that novel. The illustrations are gorgeous, however I found the story never had enough substance in order to live up to them. There is very little which actually happens, with a number of nonsensical songs & rhymes which become increasingly tiring after a while, and too much emphasis on confusing philosophical views, rather than creating a memorable journey for Poppy.

I did enjoy the stories told by the various “key” animals from each elemental zone, they were certainly more interesting than the tale itself. Ultimately Poppy is supposed to learn something about herself and the universe, however I felt the journey to get there just wasn’t interesting enough for me.

I think this novel would work much better as a graphic novel, where a vast chunk of the narrative churn could be condensed into a good story, and the graphic expertise of the author utilised to maximum potential.

Rating: 2/5 stars

All opinions & reviews are my own. No one is paying me anything to say anything!